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@ARTICLE{Wiesing:874975,
author = {Wiesing, Michael and Fink, Gereon R. and Weidner, Ralph},
title = {{A}ccuracy and precision of stimulus timing and reaction
times with {U}nreal {E}ngine and {S}team{VR}},
journal = {PLOS ONE},
volume = {15},
number = {4},
issn = {1932-6203},
address = {San Francisco, California, US},
publisher = {PLOS},
reportid = {FZJ-2020-01740},
pages = {e0231152 -},
year = {2020},
abstract = {The increasing interest in Virtual Reality (VR) as a tool
for neuroscientific research contrasts with the current lack
of established toolboxes and standards. In several recent
studies, game engines like Unity or Unreal Engine were used.
It remains to be tested whether these software packages
provide sufficiently precise and accurate stimulus timing
and time measurements that allow inferring ongoing mental
and neural processes. We here investigated the precision and
accuracy of the timing mechanisms of Unreal Engine 4 and
SteamVR in combination with the HTC Vive VR system. In a
first experiment, objective external measures revealed that
stimulus durations were highly accurate. In contrast, in a
second experiment, the assessment of the precision of
built-in timing procedures revealed highly variable reaction
time measurements and inaccurate determination of stimulus
onsets. Hence, we developed a new software-based method that
allows precise and accurate reaction time measurements with
Unreal Engine and SteamVR. Instead of using the standard
timing procedures implemented within Unreal Engine, time
acquisition was outsourced to a background application.
Timing benchmarks revealed that the newly developed method
allows reaction time measurements with a precision and
accuracy in the millisecond range. Overall, the present
results indicate that the HTC Vive together with Unreal
Engine and SteamVR can achieve high levels of precision and
accuracy both concerning stimulus duration and critical time
measurements. The latter can be achieved using a newly
developed routine that allows not only accurate reaction
time measures but also provides precise timing parameters
that can be used in combination with time-sensitive
functional measures such as electroencephalography (EEG) or
transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).},
cin = {INM-3},
ddc = {610},
cid = {I:(DE-Juel1)INM-3-20090406},
pnm = {572 - (Dys-)function and Plasticity (POF3-572)},
pid = {G:(DE-HGF)POF3-572},
typ = {PUB:(DE-HGF)16},
pubmed = {pmid:32267886},
UT = {WOS:000535967600030},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0231152},
url = {https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/874975},
}